Christmas 2010

This Christmas was spent in Pasadena California at my cousin Kim's house (it is also Diana's home). There were 22 adults and four children. We spent Thursday moving the trailer to Pasadena. I didn't even have to pack!

Friday was spent at the zoo with my sisters seeing the new Elephants of Asia exhibit. That night Santa came to visit for Christmas Eve. The boys and June loved seeing Santa. He even got caught under the mistletoe by my Granny!

Wesley was not too happy to sit on his lap, but he did enjoy dancing and clapping in front of him while the other kids told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

Christmas morning started a little later than expected thanks to the boys sleeping in until 7:30am. I guess somehow Santa knew what I wished for as well.

That night I was the Dizzy Solitaire champion for the first time ever thanks to Jeanine being prego and passing out asleep on the couch while the rest of us were playing. She usually stomps all over the rest of us! Johnny had taken a long afternoon nap so he manned the boys while I played. It was a perfect Christmas afternoon. One of my favorite gifts was my new digital camera. Johnny is excited about his new tools. The boys now have more toys than can reasonably fit in our trailer.

We didn't have Christmas dinner until Sunday afternoon9. It was really amazing. In my family we always wear nice clothes and eat on fine china. My Granny has an amazing silver goblet set and antique napkin rings I just love. She is an antique dealer so this is how it was every year at her house. No paper plates or plastic silver wear. This year we had a whole roast, a honey baked ham, and a fried turkey. Amazing! The women usually make most the meal and the men do the clean up. One of my favorite parts is listening to all the men sing songs like "What do you do with a drunkin' sailor?" while washing dishes.

Monday was full moving the trailer back to Ontario and finding/buying Johnny's final Christmas gift. Last year I wrapped an IOU. This year he got the real thing! We picked out a 2006 Ford F250 4X4 Crew Cab 6.0L Super Duty. I love the leather heated seats and the backing sensors. We didn't really want 4x4 or the lift, but it was what we found in the one day Johnny took off work to buy a truck. Overall we both love it! Johnny is kind of in a state of denial that he finally has a truck again. It has been almost 3 years since we sold his little Dodge. Congratulations babe, you have worked hard for it! Enjoy it!

We needed to be able to pull our trailer without borrowing someone else's truck. Also, now that Johnny has been moved to a work location further from here he needed a car. It was too far to ride a bike. We have not been able to find a place out there to move our trailer so we decided to stay put and Johnny will drive 30 minutes each way. Not too bad for now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Trailer Question

One week of constant rain + living in a travel trailer + using space heaters = MOLD on every window = GROSS!!

Lysol is my new best friend. Luckily this time there are no gushing leaks!

On the Move

We are moving again. We are hooking up our home sweet home on wheels and moving out closer to Pasadena, CA off the 605 freeway. Johnny is being switched to another show-up yard, but is still contracted to the same company. I knew it was coming because he will become "HOT" near the end of February or beginning of March (Stop, I know what you are thinking, "he has been hot for a long time." Yes but that is not what I am talking about silly people). Becoming hot means he will join the big boys working with high voltage lines (600 volts and up I think). It also means he is a 4th step (out of 7 steps total) and he gets a 5% raise. Yeah on all accounts (except the higher voltage which of course is much more dangerous). Back to my point, he has been on a street light crew but will now be on a line crew to get the experience he needs. The new yard is bigger with more crews and longer hours. Thanks to the rain I have not seen him much this week. He worked 10-14 hours every day as well as Saturday and Sunday. Actually he is still working Sunday...he started at 6am and is still on stand by which means he will get home some time in the AM hours. He will have a mandatory 8 hour rest period some time tomorrow then back to work. Poor guy assures me he is now dry and warm. Apparently his rain gear is only meant to keep most of the water out, but does not keep him dry.

I have mixed feelings about the move of course. The place we are staying is pretty cheap for space rent. The closer to LA the more expensive. Plus, I don't want to have to buy another car until we are ready to get Johnny his diesel truck. Until then he is on his electric bike and we need to be close enough that he can get to work in a reasonable amount of time (in the rain I drive him or he takes the car). However, I do love the preschool the boys have been attending and our current ward. All of that goes away every time we move. Starting over is always hard and my pathetic feelings of "I am a loser with no friends to hang out with" begin over again. But, this is what I signed up for and it is a means to an end. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I secretly dream of moving back to Arizona to find my dream house with a basement, a power flush toilet, instant never ending hot water so I can shower and shave my legs at the same time, doors instead of curtains on the bedrooms, and a big yard where my boys can go outside to play and run. Wow that felt good to get out of my head! Until then, bring it on. Maybe we will be in this area long enough for me to find a good doctor and hospital for our next addition.

Too Many Santas!

Yesterday was Jaxon's preschool party and today was Daniel's. Santa is everywhere. Daniel asked me if it was the same "real Santa" as was at the ward party. Plus they got a call from Santa (aka my Dad) yesterday. The call actually went much better than any of their Santa sightings.

The preschool parties are fun, but actually very ridiculous. Of course I love hearing my kids sing Christmas songs to me, but making ham and green beans by 9am for 3-5 year olds and their parents who just ate breakfast makes no sense. All the kids want is the junk food. I was able to get Jaxon to dress up for his party, but Daniel refused to wear "church clothes."

In Daniel's class I guess the parent's were supposed to bring a wrapped present for Santa to give the child. Somehow I missed the memo and the teacher told me "well we only sent the notice home like 4 times and posted it on the door." Well excuse me, all of his gifts are wrapped and under the tree at my parent's house. AND if Jaxon's Santa from the party yesterday didn't give presents to the kids then why is this Santa doing it today...it is the same preschool and the same Santa impersonator.

We came up with a present just time time thank goodness. I don't want Daniel to think Santa forgot about him. I am trying to get my kids to stop asking for everything in the world, but all of these Santas are perpetuating my problem.

I was never really bothered by all of the materialism before, but now it bugs me. I sound like a Grinch, I know. Bah humbug. Sorry.

I love Christmas and talking about the birth of Christ. I love teaching my children about the Nativity and the symbolism of Christmas. How do I help their little minds make sense of it all? Santa is fun, but not real. Jesus Christ is the reason for our celebrations. I want my kids to love Him and celebrate His life and mission as much as I do. Merry Christmas.

9 Years & Counting

9 Years! I can't believe it. I feel so old. Yesterday was nothing out of the ordinary or amazing, but for some reason it felt special curling up in Johnny's arms to go to sleep. I love him even more now than I did 9 years ago, which I didn't think was possible. Love grows and changes in ways you don't expect. Things that used to bother me don't seem to matter any more. I wonder if it still bothers Johnny how I leave the refrigerator open while I use something before putting it back? He has not mentioned it in years, but it used to really bug him. I used to hate how he would put the toilet paper on the roll coming from the bottom instead of over the top. After a while I decided just to be glad he put the roll on the dispenser. Johnny is amazing! He folds clothes and puts them away, gives the kids baths every night and sings them to sleep most nights. He never shys away from leading our family in scripture reading or family home evening activities. He tells me I am the boss all the time but he is not afraid to tell me what he wants (which most often is "a smile on your face.").

We have had hard years when he was unemployed and I had to go back to work, but Johnny is the first to say we need to go to the temple and serve more to be blessed. And we have been, many times more than we thought possible. I still think he is sexy and I love to see him in a tool belt! He tells me I am beautiful and how much he loves me every day. Johnny is the love of my life and I would not be complete without him. I look forward to our future together.

Peace

Wesley always likes to pull stuff over his head. Somehow he got a hold of Jaxon's Knight costume pants from Halloween (I swear I have cleaned out my car since Halloween) then fell promptly asleep. It was so adorable. Of course his right shoe and sock were off. He never keeps them on for more than two seconds. For some reason he never takes off the left...maybe its a sign he is right handed.

Awesome GF Info & Magazine

I just found this magazine and website and so far I am very excited. I will of course have to tweek the recipes for Jaxon but it is great to have some new ideas.

http://www.livingwithout.com/

After Lego Land we hit up the Ward Christmas party. It was great timing because the boys all slept in the car on the way there and I didn't have to cook! Bonus!

Daniel was so excited to see the "real Santa" at the party.

Wesley was not so excited. It had been a long day and when I suddenly handed him to a large hairy stranger he had a melt down.

Then last night we went to Thoroughbred lane in Ranch Coucamonga to walk the neighborhood of lights and meet the Grinch. Daniel had a hard time being convinced this was the good Grinch from the end of the movie, not the mean one from the beginning. All of the lights were amazing but it was a few miles walk there and back. Wesley would not keep his shoes or socks on to save his life. We were lucky to make it home with all of them due to the number of times they were thrown in the gutter.

Jaxon picked up a little girlfriend named Grace (the daughter of someone in our new ward) on the way and held her hand for over two hours. Near the end they had a little couples spat, but made up pretty quick and ended the night with Jaxon kissing her on the cheek. It was so cute but scared me to death! He is 3!

One very exciting moment for me was when a lady at the cookie and hot coco tent tried to let Jaxon pick off the tray he told her he couldn't because he was allergic. I was so proud. What 3 year old refuses a tray of cookies held in their face? So sad but great at the same time.

Lego Land - 3rd times the charm!

We finally made it to Lego Land on Saturday! After our first attempt failing due to the flu and our second due to a 90% chance of rain we finally made it and it was awesome!

My parents joined us for a beautiful day. The best part about Lego Land is that all of the rides are geared toward younger children so there were not many we had to skip due to age and height restrictions.

I do have to say my Dad and I rocked the Fire Fighter challenge against Johnny, Daniel, and Jaxon. I'll admit is was not exactly an even match-up. Jaxon loved the only water ride that was open. Daniel would not go anywhere near it due to the possibility of getting wet.

Poor Wesley was only big enough to go on the boat tour, but he had a great time running around and digging in the Dinosaur zone while others rode the rides. With so many adults we were able to rotate sitting out with him. Even Jaxon did well on the roller coasters and I have a feeling they will be begging me to take them to Magic Mountain when they are a little older.

NOW, if you made it through this post and all the cute pictures of my awesome boys here is the best part...we have some free tickets for anyone who would like them. My parents have two adult tickets good for one day at Lego Land until 12/31/10. AND Johnny and I have two free adult tickets good for one day 01/01/11-03/31/11. Email me if you want to claim them.

Christmas Stocking #2

After I finished baby June's stocking my mom started dropping not so subtle hints that her current stocking (which was made by her daughters back in the early 90s with leftover material and glue) was not really up to current standards. So, I decided to make her one too this year.

Merry Christmas Mom. I hope you don't read my blog until after you notice I made the switch over the fireplace.

House for Rent

Our house for Mesa will be available for rent January 1st. Our amazing friends the Kleyns took advantage of the housing market and got a killer deal on their new home. So, that leaves us needing to find new renters. If you know of anyone send them our way.